Robert Harling was born in Highbury, north London. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London. He first worked as a designer for the Daily Mail and was also an advisor on typography for London Transport and for Stephenson Blake & Co in Sheffield. Harling co-founded and became editor of Typography, a journal of contemporary lettering and print. Before the Second World War, he taught at the Reimann School of Design in London. In May 1940, he took part in the wartime evacuation of British forces at Dunkirk. During the war, he worked as an intelligence officer. After the war, Harling returned to the typographic world and co-founded the specialist publishing firm Art and Technics. He also worked as art director of Everett's advertising agency and architectural correspondent and typographic adviser to the Sunday Times.